


The Formation of the Eastemnet Craft Guilds: An Oral History

by FoxRafer



Category: Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Back to Middle-Earth Month, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-23
Updated: 2012-03-23
Packaged: 2017-11-02 18:16:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/371928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoxRafer/pseuds/FoxRafer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for B2MeM Challenge N32 on my 'Art Supplies' Bingo card. Pastel is the french word for woad, a plant that at one time was used to create blue dye, so that's where I took the prompt.</p>
    </blockquote>





	The Formation of the Eastemnet Craft Guilds: An Oral History

**Author's Note:**

> Written for B2MeM Challenge N32 on my 'Art Supplies' Bingo card. Pastel is the french word for woad, a plant that at one time was used to create blue dye, so that's where I took the prompt.

We first came here, my brothers and I, to bear arms for a band of travelers. Not everyone had abandoned the plains. The herders moved west and south toward protected settlements, but many of the itinerant farmers remained, their fields more easily concealed in the grasslands than cattle grazing on the Wold. Few outside the Eastemnet knew they were here, the patrols growing less frequent, the tales of mass slaughter and evacuation becoming part of the daily news. But we saw the travelers often on trading day; our family were dyers and weavers and the flax and woad the farmers of the plains grew were the best we'd ever found. So when our family decided to leave our village for the safety of Edoras, my brothers and I headed east for the Entford and the travelers we knew were still there. The soldiers could not be expected to protect every encampment in the Eastemnet and we had grown fond of these people. Of hearty stock they were, kind and brave, and we hoped our presence would help them and their lifestyle survive.

When the King summoned all able men to the muster, my brothers and most of the men joined. Those of us who remained weren't helpless, for while our numbers may have dwindled there were many among us who could rival many a man in battle had we been allowed to follow. We abandoned our watch of the fields that had yet to be sown, ceased all preparation of the soil, in favor of maintaining the wheat and woad. Where they lay was more easily protected, and despite the dangers that surrounded us we believed we may be able to see them through to harvest. We did our best to conceal our camp, adding more mud and sod to earth-bermed huts to help them blend in with the countryside. And always we remained vigilant, avoiding fights when we could but never afraid to engage when our homes or lands were threatened.

At the end of the War, few of the farmers and only one of my brothers returned, the other falling before the great horde at the Morannon. But we couldn't let our guard down even after Sauron's defeat. Now the orcs roamed in aimless bands, more ruthless in their desperation. We lost much of the grain but the woad survived, even thrived in its sheltered valley. But the travelers did not see a lot of hope in this. In days of relative peace there had been need for the plant, dyes were needed for all forms of use when daily life in Rohan still had some semblance of normalcy. But now such things were frivolous, trifling. Only the basic necessities were needed when rebuilding a land ravaged by war, and pastels were not among them. We had sacrificed much to keep these farmers together, to retain some semblance of their world, and now it appeared much of that would be in vain.

My brother soon left us, making his way to Edoras in hopes of being reunited with our family, but I chose to stay. I had grown fond of the travelers, had felt as if this had become my home. And I believed that though the coming years may be lean, my skills as a dyer and weaver would prove to be a great benefit for us all. And in time it turned out I was right. Although the land had not been properly tended and enriched, we planted a crop of flax in late April, and by the time the woad was ready to be harvested there was a young but serviceable crop of flax to be gathered as well. Rather than sell whatever food crops were able to be salvaged, we chose to keep most for our own consumption, but dyes were made from the woad and wild plants that grew naturally on the plain, and the flax spun into thread ready to be woven into cloth. There was an excellent spinner among our group, and a carpenter with great skill in building looms and tools that could be disassembled and rebuilt with ease, and together we began to create beautiful fabrics and linen goods. Some we used ourselves, some were stored for the future, and the rest loaded into carts so our best traders could travel through Rohan and the northern villages of Gondor and see what could be sold.

I know we made fine goods, no doubt the quality of the work was exceptional. But I still can't say with certainty why they became so well known, so sought after. I do have an opinion, although my view is quite biased seeing as I was courted by and later married one of traders, but I believe our tradesmen were as charming as they were knowledgeable, and that charisma served them well. They made connections with successful merchants, tailors and drapers as far south as Belfalas and even in the north country with the elves of the Golden Wood. Soon specialist craftsmen, including embroiderers and tapisers, found their way to our community, attracted by the itinerant life as much as the opportunity to work with other skilled artisans.

As the years passed and our work became more known, our cash crops shifted from grains and legumes to plants grown for fiber production and dye making, and over time we found it best to organize the labor to retain the high quality of workmanship. It was in these years that the textile guilds began to form and, unlike in Pelargir or Calembel or many other cities in Gondor, ours did not put restrictions on women membership, most likely because those considered the master craftsmen in the community were all women and to us it made no difference: if the work met our high quality standards, you could find a place. And of course, you needed to be open to hard work in the fields, for we did everything as a unit: sowing, harvesting and processing the crops to produce the raw material for our goods. Some we purchased through trade but most we grew ourselves, as at heart this was a farming community steeped in the culture of itinerant homesteads.

This kind of life isn't for everyone, and we have the added complication of organizing roving craftsmen, which is far from the norm, but it works for us. It's going on fifteen years since the Eastemnet Craft Guilds were formed. In many ways they started out of necessity, out of blood and loss and a meager existence we all found ourselves facing after the War. But out of that we created something good and true and lasting, made something that enriched our land and people, and in the process we changed the perception of travelers wherever we've been fortunate to conduct trade. I'm very proud of that.


End file.
